Books and Journals in Humanities, Social Science and Performing Arts

Metonymy in Language, Thought and Brain

Bogusław Bierwiaczonek [+-]

University of Częstochowa

Bogusław Bierwiaczonek is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Częstochowa in Poland. His most recent publications include Studies in Cognitive Semantics (co-edited with Anna Turula, Wydawnictwo WSL, 2010) and Syntax in Cognitive Grammar (co-edited with Bożena Cetnarowska and Anna Turula, Wydawnictwo WSL, 2011).

The book presents a survey of the studies of metonymy in various aspects of language from the cognitive linguistic perspective. It discusses the role of metonymy not only in the traditional domain of semantics but also in morphology, linguistic pragmatics and formal dimensions of language, including syntax. The most influential modern theories of metonymy are thoroughly and critically discussed and the author also proposes his own original solutions to the problems which arise, taking into account his Polish perspective. Since the picture that emerges shows metonymy as a universal conceptual phenomenon, the last chapter is devoted to the discussion of the possible biological, neural and evolutionary reasons why metonymy is so rampant. Thus, another important aim of this study is to consider the problem of the embodiment of metonymy from the point of view of modern neuroscience.

The chapter starts with explaining the word “metonymy” and presenting some classical views on the concept. Moreover, the modern conceptual theory of metonymy is discussed, as well as views on metonymy and cognitive domains.

This chapter focuses on formal metonymy, which is the metonymy based on a formal relation between the vehicle and the target. The most obvious cases of formal metonymy are alphabetisms, acronyms, clips and various kinds of ellipsis in syntax. Examples of such formal metonyms are further discussed. In addition, it is shown that formal metonymy may underlie a number of spelling conventions as well as syntactic and pragmatic phenomena.

Metonymy can be found on the level of morphemes as well. This chapter shows that metonymy, in derivation motivates the extension of derivational patterns both in the roots and in the affixes. Moreover, it shows how general metonymic principles motivate the formation of first names, surnames and troponyms.

This chapter shows that numerous linguistic facts can be explained in terms of metonymic mappings, acting on conceptual structures known as cognitive models and scenarios. Moreover, it explains that it is possible to account for a number of propositional as well as illocutionary transfers of meaning in particular contexts in terms of the same basic cognitive metonymic mechanism.

This chapter emphasizes the extent and importance of metonymy for lexical semantics and argues that metonymy should be distinguished from various meaning extensions based on elaboration and metaphor.In the area of semantic and lexical relations, the chapter shows that metonymy uses some of the same conceptual configurations that support traditional sense relationships as meronymy, hyponymy, antonymy and complementarity, reversives, and a large number of synonyms.

This chapter attempts to show that that metonymy should be considered as one of the crucial aspects of the embodiment of human cognition and language. Moreover, metonymy is considered to be embodied in the sense of having a neuro-physiological basis and thus, in principle, should be able to be described in terms of neuro-computational modelling or one version of Artificial Neural Networks. The Neural Theory of Metonymy is further discussed and the empirical evidence from other fields of research that support it.

Next to metaphor, the issue of metonymy is a major topic in cognitive linguistics, and this is the first monograph wholly devoted to metonymy. There is no doubt the book makes a substantial contribution to cognitive linguistics and the field of metonymy in particular.Prof. Dr. Günter Radden, Universität Hamburg

Boguslaw Bierwiaczonek’s book is an insightful and rigorous account of the pervasiveness of metonymy in language and embodied thought. A hallmark of the book is its breadth of scope and its ability to provide exhaustive and elegant explanations about the role of metonymy at all levels of linguistic inquiry. The book is thus a must not only for scholars interested in metonymy but also for those carrying out research into the relationship between language and cognition.Francisco J. Ruiz de Mendoza, University of La Rioja